It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t flashy but the Pittsburgh Steelers took in all that criticism from the past week and channeled it into a huge performance culminating in a big upset win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
A QB controversy is brewing
At this point, I have no idea who the Steelers should start at quarterback. There’s no doubt Mitch Trubisky came into Sunday’s game fired up and well outplayed Kenny Pickett. But can anyone trust he will do it again after such lackluster performances in his previous starts? If Pickett is cleared to play next week, Pittsburgh is going to have a tough decision to make.
The run game is still broken
The root of the Steelers offensive issues still lingers in the run game. There’s no single source of the problem which makes corrections very challenging. The line didn’t block as well as it had and both Najee Harris and Jayen Warren didn’t give them much to work with. We do give points for trying to manufacture a run game with the wide receivers but execution is questionable.
Not too shabby for Matt Canada
If you want to find fault with the Steelers offense on Sunday, offensive coordinator Matt Canada isn’t who to point fingers at. Canada did a nice job with diverse playcalling and some creative concepts, many of which were horribly executed by the players.
Huge day for backups turned starters on defense
Everyone (myself included) gave the Steelers secondary no shot with the top three cornerbacks and top safety out. But they proved everyone know with a mix of maximum effort and a clever scheme to baffle and beat Tom Brady. Pittsburgh never blitzed and disguised coverages to help guys like James Pierre and Joshua Jackson on the back end.
Special teams were finally special
If we were giving out a player of the game award, it would be hard to pass on wide receiver turned kick/punt returner Steven Sims. Sims had a pair of huge returns on Sunday to spark the offense.
Nothing about today's game makes any sense
If we are being honest, there’s no reason the Steelers should have won this game. But the fact they did just raise more questions about the previous four games. It isn’t about talent or coaching. It’s about consistency and discipline. If this team can do what they did today, why can’t they muster up this effort every week?
